Council tax payments for some of Grimsby's most vulnerable - including low-income families with young children and the disabled, could be doubled to make up for expected shortfalls when Universal Credit comes in.

North East Lincolnshire Council is planning to reduce the amount of council tax support given to families with a child under five and people with a registered disability who would have to pay double the amount they do now.

Currently low-income families with at least one child under five years old and those on disability payments pay only 12.5 per cent of their council tax rate, with the Council Tax Support Scheme subsidising the rest.

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The council is set to reduce the council tax support scheme available to the disabled and families with children under 5. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

However under these new plans, those groups will be classed as "general working age households", and as a result, will only receive a maximum of 75 per cent towards their payments.

The council tax income would increase by £600,000, which it is hoped would offset a predicted drop in collection rates due to the introduction of controversial new benefit Universal Credit.

About 2,600 households would be affected if this change to the Council Tax Support Scheme is implemented - and it comes as next week's Universal Credit roll-out in Grimsby sparks fears about mounting financial pressure on the borough's most vulnerable residents.

The council does plan to expand the Council Tax Hardship Fund in order to provide wider support for households in the area in financial distress and will also provide protection for Council Tax Support claimants who are leaving council care, effectively making them exempt from having to pay council tax.

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However, there are only about 20 of these care leavers aged 18 - 21 currently in the borough.

North East Lincolnshire Council said that it is planning to make the move after revising its predicted council tax base prior to the introduction of Universal Credit, believing that its full effects will come to light in 2020, when they believe council tax collection rates will fall by 0.2 per cent.

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The plans follow a public consultation in which just over 45 per cent of respondents believed that the council should implement the changes, and just over 35 per cent felt that they should not.

Exterior of Grimsby Town Hall, Grimsby

The council stated in Cabinet documents that "whilst this will increase the amount of Council Tax these households will need to pay it will also offer the opportunity to redistribute any savings identified through this change to be targeted to those households who are experiencing severe financial hardship."

The wards that will be most affected by the move are the East Marsh, South Ward and Sidney Sussex, with Humberston and New Waltham, Haverstoe and the Wolds wards being the least affected.

East Marsh Councillor Stephen Beasant says it will hit the most vulnerable in our society the hardest, especially at a time when they are already struggling.

He said: "Here in the East Marsh we already have people struggling terribly in every street, and having to pay even more in council tax is only going to make life tougher for them.

"People are already having their pockets hit hard, through rising inflation and food prices, with their wages not keeping up with the costs, and a council tax increase on top of this could be brutal.

Councillor Steve Beasant on the streets of the East Marsh, Grimsby. (Image: Jon Corken)

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"This is not an attack on the council, because I understand that local authorities are being forced to make cuts, with much more to come and the government needs to start listening because enough is enough.

"Councils cannot cope at this rate and something needs to be done."

A final decision on the Council Tax Support Scheme is set to be made on Thursday, December 14 by the North East Lincolnshire Council Cabinet.